Policies concerning local administrations and interinstitutional cooperation in the development and popularization of sports

The present study aims to investigate the policies concerning the development of the cooperation between the institutions and organizations related to sports and supporting of sports by local administrations in line with the managers serving at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Provincial Directorates of Youth Services and Sports, and the sports-related units of municipalities. The study is considered to have the quality of contributing to the field of sports policies since the problems encountered in the development and popularization of sports are determined and proper solution proposals are offered for the relevant problems within the scope of the study. Employing the qualitative research methods and techniques, the present study adopted a descriptive research design. The study group of the research comprised a total number of 25 sports managers, 5 of whom serving at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, 10 serving at the Provincial Directorates of Youth Services and Sports of Ankara and Adana, and the remaining 10 serving at the Metropolitan Municipalities of Ankara and Adana. The managers in the study group were determined by means of the criterion sampling method, which is a purposeful sampling method. The data of the study was collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The data collected by means of the interviews carried out with the sports managers was analyzed by means of content analysis. At the end of the study, it was concluded that a number of policies concerning the local administrations with regard to the development and popularization of sports existed, but these policies were not adequate. It was determined that although there was cooperation between the relevant institutions and organizations in various fields, their cooperation was not at an adequate level. It was concluded that the primary reason for the lack of cooperation was the insufficiency of the financial means. In line with the results of the study, it is recommended to enhance the policies concerning the participation of local administrations into sports and to develop the cooperation between institutions by increasing the budget allocated to sports in order to contribute to the development and popularization of sports throughout the country.